To Belong
by katergator
Summary: It's Starfire's birthday and the titans prepared a special day for her. After a few embarrassing moments Starfire goes up to the roof to be alone. Will a friend be able to cheer her up? One-shot.


Okay! One-shot time. I had written a poem about Beast Boy and Terra from Teen Titans, but this is the first attempt to write a story. So if characters, mainly Raven, are a litte OC I am sorry. And I didn't realize at first but Starfire's dialogue is a little difficult to get right. So anyway.

It's just a little one-shot about Starfire's birthday and hopefully a little bit of character development. And mainly some Starfire Robin fluff at the end. You gotta love the fluff, right? I was aiming to make you go "awwww!" so drop me a review and tell me if I did it right!

and a disclaimer for you all: Of course I don't own the Teen Titans. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, I would be writing actual episodes.

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To Belong

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY STARFIRE!!"

The alien girl blushed furiously as she entered the living room that morning to find that her friends had decorated with balloons and streamers, and a large banner.

"All of you did this for me?" she said happily.

"Of course, Starfire," Robin said grinning.

She glanced at the clock. "It is so late in the morning! You let me sleep in?" It was near ten thirty.

"Hey, anyone gets to sleep in on their birthday," Cyborg stated.

"We've got a special day planned for you Starfire," Robin said. "First, Beast Boy made you breakfast…" Robin looked uncertainly at Beast Boy as he came out from the kitchen with a plate of… something.

"Hope you like tofu!" he said with a large grin plastered across his face.

Starfire eyed the plate, then said, "I am sure I will thoroughly enjoy the concoction you have prepared for me." Beast Boy looked pleased.

"And we all have gifts for you," Cyborg said as he stepped forward and set a square box wrapped in light blue paper in Starfire's hands.

"Oh, thank you Cyborg! What a lovely blue box."

"No… no, Star you're supposed to open it."

"Oh, I see!" She began to rip the paper off the box and quickly removed the cover. "What is it?"

"It's a remote control car I built myself. See, you can control where the car goes and the stunts it does by using the remote."

"You must show me," Starfire said, staring into the box. Cyborg eagerly grabbed out the car and launched into a techno mumble jumble and performed the many tricks the little stunt car could do. While Starfire didn't understand really one word he said, she was amazed at the spins and jumps the little car did and made Cyborg promise he would teach her how to use it.

Raven approached next and set her gift wrapped in dark purple paper in front of Starfire.

"Am I supposed to open this one too?"

"Yes, Starfire."

She tore off the paper to reveal a book of poems.

"What a boring gift," Beast Boy muttered to Cyborg.

"A little culture couldn't hurt," Raven said, shooting daggers with her eyes at Beast Boy, who shut up and moved a little closer to the mechanical titan.

"I shall enjoy reading your earthen literature," Starfire said happily. "Thank you Raven!"

Raven nodded.

"Now it's my turn," Beast Boy stepped up. He set a clumsily wrapped present in her hands.

"Oooh…" Starfire said. She squealed in delight when the wrapping fell away and a bright pink stuffed rabbit sat in her lap.

"I saw it and thought she would like it," he said as the others stared at him with strange looks.

"What I want to know is how the heck did you buy that?!" Cyborg laughed.

"Internet," Beast Boy replied. "No way I'd walk through a mall carrying that thing. But you like it, don't you Star?"

"I do!" she exclaimed, squeezing the stuffed animal in a crushing hug.

After the excitement died down a little, Cyborg looked at Robin. "Hey, don't you have a present for Star too?"

Robin looked a tad bit uncomfortable. "I do… I just haven't wrapped it yet. I'll give it to you later Starfire."

She looked slightly confused, but then grinned and said, "Wonderful. I will await for your gift most anxiously."

They then discussed plans for the rest of the day, and decided to take Starfire out to a fancy restaurant, as most of her experience eating out was at the pizza diner.

Later that day Starfire was looking through her closet trying to decide what to wear to a more upscale place to eat. When she couldn't decide what would be appropriate she hovered over to Raven's room and knocked on the door.

"What is it?" Raven's monotone voice came from the other side.

"It is I, Starfire."

"Come in," Raven said. Star carefully opened the door and peaked her head around. Raven was sitting on her bed, reading.

"You are not getting ready for tonight yet?" Star asked timidly.

"I don't need much time to get ready, Star," Raven remarked

"Oh… Well, I was wondering if you could help me decide what to wear. I do not know what one should wear to a restaurant."

"I guess I could." Raven got up from her bed.

"Oh, thank you friend! I have been worrying that I would not pick the right outfit for this occasion. I want to be correct in my attire, you understand?"

"Or is it just to impress someone?" Raven said a bit slyly as they headed off for Starfire's room.

Starfire blushed slightly, and smiled. "What would give you that impression, Raven?"

"Nothing…. You just seem to be more worried than usual."

Around six thirty the titans were assembling in the living room. Robin and Cyborg were sitting on the couches waiting for the rest to appear. Robin wore a nice pair of khakis and a green collared shirt, and black dress shoes. Cyborg realized that his body was mostly mechanical and he didn't actually wear clothes anymore. But he put on a red bowtie for looks.

The girls still hadn't appeared as Beast Boy stepped into the living room. Robin raised an eyebrow and Cyborg burst out laughing.

"So, ya totally diggin' the threads?" he said smoothly, turning a pirouette.

"Uh… Beast Boy, don't you think that's a little… _overdressed_?" Robin said.

Beast Boy was sporting a three piece white suit, complete with white bowtie and shiny white dress shoes.

"No way, man. The ladies will dig it. I got style."

Cyborg was still too busy laughing behind his hand to comment.

Soon the door slid open and out stepped Starfire. She wore a white slightly see-through short sleeved cardigan with a white tank top underneath, and a pink, purple, and white floral print mid thigh skirt that swished around her legs. Around her neck was a necklace made of dazzling purple jewels and low pink heels completed her outfit.

Robin got to his feet and stared.

"Oh, Robin, you look most handsome!" she said, clasping her hands in front of her.

"Uh… thanks, you look good too, Starfire," he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. He would've liked to have told her how he really felt, that she looked absolutely beautiful, but knew the two laughing hyenas that he called friends behind him would never let it go.

"Oh Robin, you look most handsome," Beast Boy softly said in a girly voice to Cyborg, who promptly starting laughing again.

"You guys are so immature."

This came from Raven, who had also come into the room. She was wearing her usual dark attire; a long black skirt with slits up the sides, and a dark purple turtleneck.

"Beast Boy, I am admiring your white clothes," Starfire said.

Beast Boy grinned. "You like em' Star? See, I'm thinking the ladies had better watch out cause I'm on the prowl."

Robin and Cyborg rolled their eyes along with Raven.

"Yes, your outfit is as they say, pimping?"  
The three raised their eyebrows in surprise and Beast Boy looked even happier.

Noting the others' faces, Star asked, "Did I not use that expression in the right context? I am forever getting your terms mixed up." She looked worried.

"Um… No… Starfire…" Robin tried to speak.

"Hey, it's alright Star. My suit is the bomb," Beast Boy said, trying to smooth things over.

"Your suit explodes?" Starfire yelped and ducked behind the couch.

"No, no Star. It's just an expression. Slang for really cool."

Raven came up behind Starfire and put her hands on her shoulders, leading her out the door. "Let's just go before this gets any worse." She turned back to look at Beast Boy. "Look what you've done, you dork."

Beast Boy shrugged.

When they arrived at the place, Starfire looked around with amazement. "This is most exciting. I have never eaten at a prominent earth restaurant."

They were seated at a round table and began looking through the menus. Starfire was slightly confused by the things they had to offer for consumption, Robin and Raven were silent as they scanned the pages, Beast Boy was grumbling about the meager selection of vegetarian entrées, and Cyborg was rebutting with "nobody likes to eat that tofu crud."

When the waiter finally came back to take their orders, each rattled off what they wanted. Then he looked at Starfire with pencil raised. She gave one last look at the menu, and then said, "I would like to order some potatoes, a side of fish, parsley, and a bottle of mustard."

The waiter stared for a moment, not quite sure whether she was serious or not.

"Is something the matter? Do you not have some of the food I have requested?" Starfire asked innocently.

"Um… she'll just have what I'm having," Robin finally spoke to the waiter.

"Good then, sir," the waiter said as he wrote it in his notebook and went back to the kitchen.

Starfire looked extremely embarrassed.

"It's okay, Star. You'll get used to it," Beast Boy said in an effort to cheer her up. Star nodded unhappily, noticing that several couples at nearby tables had heard her strange order and were now looking at her curiously.

"You'll like what I'm having, Starfire. It's really good," Robin said, resting his hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him, deciding that she didn't want to bring the mood down, especially on her birthday when all of her friends had gone through so much trouble for her.

After dinner, which all of them enjoyed, they returned to the tower and brought out a birthday cake for Starfire.

"Hey, this is nice! Where'd you buy it from, Raven?" Beast Boy exclaimed. The large cake had white frosting with pink roses and "Happy Birthday Starfire" was written in purple cursive letters.

"I made it."

They all stopped what they were doing and stared at Raven.

"What?" the girl asked. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"You… you made this?" Robin asked.

"Is that difficult to believe? I have hobbies too, you know," Raven said.

"I just didn't realize cake decorating was one of them," Robin remarked.

"Well now you do. End of story. Light the candles so she can blow them out, will you? Then we can all get on with our lives."

They complied and Starfire stood and grinned as her friends sang happy birthday to her. Then they explained several times that Starfire was supposed to blow out the candles and make a wish. By the time she finally did the candles were pretty much melted into the cake, but nobody cared.

After Raven's cake they decided to have a movie marathon. Starfire excitedly exclaimed that she would like to watch a chick flick.

"I am a chick and I would like to view a flick!"

Beast Boy and Cyborg grimaced, Robin looked mildly amused, and Raven somewhat impassive, though she probably wouldn't enjoy a chick flick any more than Beast Boy and Cyborg.

Starfire sighed when she saw her friends weren't sold on the idea and picked up a dvd case.

"Or I suppose we could watch _Avenge of the Werewolf Zombies Four…_ again."

Cyborg and Beast Boy cheered and jumped onto the couch.

During the movie, of which Starfire was afraid, she sat next to Robin and hid behind a pillow for most of the time. He smirked at her antics, as she had already seen the movie twice, but it was still as scary to her as it was the first time she saw it.

Afterwards they all shuffled off to bed, wishing Starfire a last happy birthday as they went. Robin hesitated for a moment, then headed off to his bedroom. Starfire, now left alone in the living room, sighed and let her happy mood drop. She floated up and out to the tower's roof. She sat on the edge and gazed at the stars, and watched the waves crash up onto the beach.

Robin came back into the living room with a little box in his hand to discover Starfire was not there. He went to her room. Her door was slightly ajar and he peeked his head in to find it vacant. He wondered where else she could be. Probably not in the training rooms or the evidence room… Finally he decided that he'd try the roof. Maybe she went up there for some air.

Starfire was sighing heavily as she heard the door to the roof open behind her. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, leaning her chin on her forearms. She barely glanced over to see Robin sit down beside her.

"You okay Starfire?" he asked, concerned by her melancholy mood. Starfire was rarely unhappy. "You had a good time today, didn't you?"

"Oh, yes Robin, I did. You all are such wonderful friends. It is just that I seem to still be having trouble fitting in."

"Oh, you're upset about the ordering at the restaurant thing, huh?"

"Yes," Starfire said with emotion. She had to hold back a few tears. Crying in front of Robin would be even more embarrassing. "And with Beast Boy's suit. I fear I may have said something awful by the look upon all of your faces."

"It's okay Starfire… everyone makes mistakes."

"I don't think I will ever master your earthen slung."

"Um… slang, Starfire."

"Slang," she repeated sadly. "On Tamaran, we were not taught this 'slang.' We were taught formal earthen language."

"Well, that's because slang changes all the time, and it's different between all groups of people. Also, English isn't the only language on earth, Starfire."

"It is not? You mean you have more than one language on this planet?"

"Yeah. We have thousands of different languages. English is spoken in a few countries, but not all."

"I shall never learn them all," Starfire moaned.

"You don't have to Star."

She sighed. "I just don't seem to fit in here, no matter how hard I try to. I still seem to be sticking out like as you say a sore thumb."

"You'll get it. I'm always here to help you, remember?"

"Thank you Robin," she smiled at him. He smiled back. Then he jumped a little as he remembered why he was originally looking for her and dug around in his pants pocket.

"Here… I got this for you." He handed her the little box. "I'm sorry I didn't give it to you earlier, but…" he trailed off, blushing slightly.

"Oh, Robin, what is it?!"

"Open it and see."

She removed the lid to find a beautiful silver necklace with a dangling star charm.

"Robin!" she breathed. "It is gorgeous!"

"I knew you'd like it. I thought of you when I saw it."

"I shall cherish it forever," she said, taking off the necklace she was already wearing and putting on her new one. Then she looked at him and smiled coyly. "It took you all day to wrap this tiny box?"

Robin blushed again. "Not really Starfire… I had it wrapped. I just wanted to give it to you when… we were alone."

"I see," she beamed. "Does that mean I am special?"

"You are very special, Star," he said. "And I couldn't be more happy that you're here on earth with us."

"Robin, this has been the best birthday I have ever had." She scooted closer to him and gave him a firm but gentle hug, then released him and sat back, supporting herself with her hands resting by her sides. Robin looked down and saw her hand sitting there and finally got the courage to lay his on top of it. Starfire smiled and he picked it up and laced his fingers through hers. She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. They sat there like that for another hour, listening to the waves and watching stars shoot across the sky.

For the first time since she had arrived on earth, Starfire felt like she belonged.

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So.... did I make you go "awwww!" and maybe a few laughs? Tell me whatcha' think! If you guys like my stuff I might think about actually writing a chaptered story. So... review please!


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